Baptism of Our Lord Luke 3:15-22 Jesus is Worthy
Isaiah 43:1-7 Romans 6:1-11 Luke 3:15-22
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the desert. (Luke 3:1-14) John heard the call of God and set about doing his Lord’s work. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John became the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy; “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. He did not approach his calling slowly and gently however. John came out of the wilderness with his guns blazing.
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
John preached with such great power and effectiveness that many people thought that he might be the Christ. Surely it was not because John was wealthy. He lived out in the wilderness and subsisted on wild honey and locusts. And from the little we know about him, he was not liked for being politically correct. And if John had not been so steadfast in his preaching the true word of God, Herod would not have imprisoned him.
John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and like those men, he taught repentance at the risk of being persecuted, rejected and like all of the prophets before him he proclaimed God’s Word at the risk of losing his very life.
Rather than being arrogant about his work, John took offense that people were looking to give him glory, honor and praise. He pointed to one far more powerful than himself who would soon start ushering in the Kingdom. John bluntly declared that he was not worthy to untie the strings which hold on the Messiah’s sandals. Some among the crowds that day saw John as a hypocrite; a sinner who was calling other sinners to repent. Oh, how often people focus on the messenger rather than on the message! They rejected John and so they rejected his message. John adamantly proclaimed that he was not the Christ, nor did he consider himself worthy to be compared to the One so great.
Despite his sinfulness and unworthiness, however, God still used John to deliver His message.
While John saw himself as a sinner, he saw Jesus as the worthy Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus would be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. That meant Jesus had to be born and live a life free of sin in order to be the perfect Sacrifice, something that neither John nor any other man could do. Because of His faith in Christ, John made himself smaller while at the same time he made the work of Jesus his Savior larger. Like Mary, John’s soul magnified the Lord.
Ironically, Jesus says in Luke (7:28), “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” What made John so great in the eyes of Jesus? John had faith in Christ and resolve in proclaiming the coming of God’s kingdom. God’s Kingdom would be brought about through the work of Jesus Christ and John had the honor and privilege of announcing the new era of salvation that comes in Christ. John’s faith and his determination to proclaim God’s message even at the risk of his own life were the traits that Jesus found to be praiseworthy.
Today we are installing people into offices of our Church. They have agreed to serve God according to their talents and abilities. They, like John, have heeded God’s call to serve God through their service to this congregation. They are not serving for their own glory, far from it. Rather they are giving up some of their time and talents to do work than often goes unnoticed and unappreciated. And I know that many of them believe they are not worthy, unfit to serve the One who is so much greater, namely Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.
But I tell you they are worthy! Now don’t get me wrong, we are all sinners and fall far short of living the sort of live God would have us live. We judge others, we complain about things that do not get done and we complain about how other things are done. We all sin daily by God’s standard, we are not worthy. But you have been made worthy; indeed you have been made greater than John. Let me explain.
Remember what Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” John the Baptist pointed to the coming kingdom of God and no one was considered greater than he. But I joyfully proclaim to you that Jesus Christ has come and ushered in the kingdom of God.
John baptized the people in anticipation of the coming Kingdom. John’s baptism washed the sins of the people into the Jordan River. The people who were baptized were cleansed of their sins by God through their faith in the coming Savior. When Jesus was baptized, He accepted the debt for the sins of all mankind. Sin from all times and all places was essentially poured onto Jesus Christ at His baptism.
At His baptism Jesus was formally installed by God into His office as our Prophet, High Priest and King. While Jesus was praying, amazing things happened. In some special way heaven, which is usually closed to our eyes, now stood open, if only for a brief moment. From the glory of the open heavens the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Jesus anointing Him for the work that lay ahead.
Then with heaven still open, the Father bore witness to the Son, “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.” By this visible and audible demonstration from the Father and the Spirit, the Son was strengthened for His great work and Jesus was declared worthy. This was the beginning of our Lord’s saving work; the ushering in of God’s kingdom had begun. Jesus began to preach, teach and to do all sorts of miracles. He healed peoples’ bodies and healed peoples’ souls through forgiveness.
On His journey toward the cross Jesus carried your sins and mine along with all others to the cross. Upon the cross He paid the final price for all of our sins and iniquities and ushered in the Kingdom of God. Now I have no doubt that John is in heaven. He saw Jesus as the only one worthy of glory, honor and praise, but John died before Jesus finished His work. You, who have been baptized into His death, however have also been baptized into His eternal life; into His kingdom. So even though you still sin, you are counted as worthy because you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And through your faith in Christ’s atoning work on the cross, you are counted as members in the kingdom of God.
As Paul states in our Epistle, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Your new is lived, not as your old sinful selves that are unworthy to untie out Lord’s shoelaces; but as people worthy to be called the children of God.
So when you sin, you should remember your baptism and your status as one forgiven by Jesus Christ. Your response is that you follow our Lord’s example of becoming prayerful, Spirit-filled children of God. So you also dedicate yourselves to a life of following God’s will while carrying out the work that He has called you to do. Jesus told you all to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
We know it won’t be easy. There will be trials and temptations. There will be tough times. But remember, you are part of the kingdom now—part of God’s family. And as a congregational family, you help and support each other in the work of the church. And you who remain faithfully steadfast to Christ will hear your Father in Heaven say, “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.”
In Jesus Name, Amen.